Fwd: Sweet Savvy Recipe #211 - Unrefined Sweeteners

August 29, 2008

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29 August 2008

Greetings!

Today I don't have a recipe for you because we're having a problem with our pipes and have had no water for several days. So no cooking.

But, a few weeks ago a reader wrote asking me for "a definitive list of acceptable and not acceptable" natural sweeteners that are not refined. The jargon on labels was confusing to her. It is pretty confusing.

While working on that list, I took another look at my sweeteners and realized I needed to remove some of them from my recommendations.

The following are UNREFINED sweeteners.

Here is the list of what I am now calling WHOLE FOOD TRADITIONAL SWEETENERS. These occur in nature, are whole foods or are made by minimal processing (such as boiling down to concentrate) and have been used as sweeteners traditionally for centuries.

* Dates and Date Sugar

* Evaporated Cane Juice (such as Sucanat and Rapadura) and Molasses

* Coconut and Palm Sugars (not currently on the list, but I am adding them as soon as I can locate a reliable supplier)

* Honey

* Maple and birch syrup

* Fruit syrups (made by boiling down the juices of fruits)

* Stevia Leaf

Another category could be called TRADITIONAL SWEETNERS. These are sweeteners that are created from whole foods by traditional methods, but do not exist as such in nature.

* Barley Malt Syrup

* Brown Rice Syrup

Then there are NEW UNREFINED SWEETNERS that do not have traditional uses as sweeteners.

* Agave

* Ogliofructose (chicory root)

The above are the sweeteners I will be using and recommending from today on.

The sweeteners I have decided to remove are xylitol (and the whole family of sugar alcohols), vegetable glycerin, and processed stevia products. You can read about why I made these decisions by clicking on their links.

I plan to remove the recipes for these sweeteners, so if you want to print them out, do it now. Go to http://www.dld123.com/start_search.php and enter the name of the sweetener to find the recipes. When you get the results, scroll down the page to RECIPES and they will be listed there.

My basic philosophy is to choose that which is closest to nature. These sweeteners I've removed are consisdered by the natural foods industry to be natural, but they don't meet my definition of what's natural. I feel good about this decision, and hope you will too.

I want to stay focused on whole food sweeteners and sweet whole foods.

for more recipes and information on sweeteners and health, visit

sweetsavvy.com

got a question? want to share a recipe?, visit

Sweet Savvy Q&A Blog

links to websites that sell natural sweeteners

SWEET SAVVY ~ NATURAL SWEETENER RECIPES is a weekly sampling of scrumptious sweets from Debra Lynn Dadd.

All recipes are made only with natural sweeteners ~ no refined white sugar or artificial sweeteners. All ingredients mentioned can be purchased at natural food stores. more...

The intention of this newsletter is to introduce readers to natural sweeteners of all kinds. The only intent is to show how natural sweeteners can be used to make a variety of favorite sweets. If there are ingredients in these recipes you choose not to eat, please make the appropriate substitutions.

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Home Safe Home tells what toxic chemicals are generally found in specific household products of all types, and safe solutions you can buy or make at home. It's different from other books on toxic chemicals because the focus really is what you can do to protect yourself and your family and create a healthy home. I bring over twenty years of research and personal real-life experience to this book.

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